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Chapter 136 – 1992-2020
After some explanations, everyone finally reluctantly believed that Lian Qiao wasn’t just making this up, and that his partner had actually somehow turned into a baby.
“Then this is…” Scarface was obviously an old player, so he understood after listening. He frowned, looking quite brutal with his face full of scarred flesh. “Is your partner the key player?”
There were almost no newcomers in the house at this time. The rookies lost their way in the snow and died. Only veteran players can find this place keenly. Therefore, when Scarface mentioned “key player”, the expression of “just as I thought” appeared on several people’s faces.
Lian Qiao: “Yes.”
By killing key players, you can get a life-saving puppet. Although this is a secret that is not passed on, it is expected that some people in this group of old players will know about it. The fact that Lian Qiao admitted it so readily caused a subtle look in some people’s eyes.
Lian Qiao naturally knew what they were thinking, but he was not afraid at all. He said very calmly: “The name of the instance is 1992-2020. My partner was born in 1992 and this year happens to be 2020. He is the only person in our group who became small so there is no doubt that he is the key person in this dungeon. It’s too obvious that even if I want to hide it, I can’t— but I want to see, which of you dares to touch him?
An old player who knew the secret lowered his eyes calmly.
It’s true. 1992-2020 was just like the years of birth and death on a tombstone. If it is 1992 now, who would dare to attack the key player before 2020?
It will undoubtedly trigger a BAD ENDING for all players on the spot.
Everyone was silent for a moment. Suddenly someone asked, “Are we going to spend 28 years in this instance?”
This was a young girl with bright eyes and her cheeks were red from the cold, like a small apple.
In that case, just call her Little Apple. Lian Qiao thought to himself.
“It can’t be so long.” Lian Qiao said with certainty, “There has never been a dungeon that lasted so long. I guess the flow of time here is different, maybe one day is a year.”
That made sense.
Everyone nodded and chatted with each other in low voices.
Little Apple stared at the baby in Lian Qiao’s arms and slowly asked: “What about after 28 days?”
Lian Qiao: “I will find a way.”
Everyone raised their heads and looked at him with strange eyes. Everyone here is an old player, and some routines are already familiar. 1992-2020, this was an obvious hint. There is no doubt that it refers to letting this child live to age 28 safely.
And then?
Is it just that we have to keep him until the age of 28 or do they have to kill him on the day he turns 28?
Since Lian Qiao claimed to be this person’s partner, he would definitely protect him. Just saying “I will find a way” wasn’t really reassuring. What can he do? Whether he can live to that day is not certain!
Everyone had different expressions and they all had their own thoughts in their hearts.
There are many old players, which is not good. Everyone was plotting against each other and competing for the pitifully small chance of survival. Even if the instance does not require them to kill each other, they will try their best to remove obstacles for themselves.
Lian Qiao knew this well.
In fact, he could have denied his lover relationship with RenDong and pretended to be a passerby, so as not to put himself in such a dangerous situation. But he doesn’t want to.
He doesn’t want to pretend in order to save himself and he can’t do it.
Even if RenDong becomes like this, it is still his RenDong. He couldn’t hide his love for this little purple sweet potato, not to mention that RenDong would grow up day by day and return to the appearance he remembered him by?
So, fuck everything- he will kill anyone who dares to stop him.
There are only a dozen players this time, what is there to be scared of!?
This time, he entered the dungeon after making sufficient preparations. There was not only XXX in the bag, but also OOO and YYYY! All are dangerous weapons controlled by the state!
Who! Is! Afraid! Of! Who!
Probably Lian Qiao’s unintentional murderous aura frightened everyone, and everyone subconsciously looked away when they met his eyes.
The atmosphere became subtle. At this moment, the principal just came out of the kitchen with the dinner plate. Seeing this, she was a little surprised and asked, “What’s the matter with you? Why don’t you talk?”
Lian Qiao grinned but before he could stop his murderous look, his smile turned into a sinister grin: “Because we’re hungry!”
The principal’s hands shook with fright  and the food almost fell from her hands. She put down the dinner plate down while trembling slightly, coughed dryly and said, “Then, eat quickly! There is still food in the kitchen, if there is not enough, I’ll add more!”
After finishing speaking, she quickly returned to the kitchen.
The food is hot and fragrant. Everyone has been running around in the snow all night and they are already starving. Little Apple immediately picked up the chopsticks and said, “Okay, I’ll talk about these things later. Let’s eat first!” Then she started eating like crazy.
The appearance of her eating and drinking stimulated everyone’s appetite again. Everyone also picked up the bowls and chopsticks one after another and began to feast on them.
Lian Qiao said “I’m full” and went upstairs with RenDong in his arms.
Those children in the orphanage who are not afraid of death are still squatting in the corridor on the second floor to watch them. Lian Qiao glanced at them, and the children, whether because they were shy or frightened, scattered to their rooms. There was only one little girl left, with big clear and bright eyes. She raised her small face and asked him, “Big brother, what’s your little brother’s name?”
Lian Qiao curbed his anger, bent down and smiled at the little girl. Said: “His name is RenDong. The RenDong of the RenDong {honeysuckle} flower.”
The little girl looked curiously at the baby purple sweet potato essence, as if she wanted to touch him but didn’t dare. Lian Qiao knew that this child was not a living person but just an NPC, but guessing that she might also have been RenDong’s playmate as a child, tenderness rose inexplicably in his heart, and he was also full of patience for this girl.
“You can touch his face.” Lian Qiao lightly poked RenDong’s wrinkled little face. RenDong was still sleeping soundly and didn’t wake up from such a gentle touch.
Encouraged by Lian Qiao, the little girl touched RenDong’s face cautiously and pleasantly.
“Ah…” the little girl exclaimed contentedly, “It’s so soft. It’s really as soft as the stamen of a honeysuckle flower!”
Lian Qiao smiled at her and was about to leave when a thought flashed in his mind and he thought of something.
He knelt down in front of the girl again, looked her in the eye, looked into her eyes and asked, “Have you seen honeysuckle flowers before?”
“Yes! Honeysuckle? We have it in our yard!” The little girl stretched out her hand and pointed out the window. She pouted and said, “It’s a pity that it’s snowing now so you can’t see anything. There are a lot of honeysuckle flowers planted in our yard! Every year the principal will take us to pick honeysuckle together, saying that it is a traditional Chinese medicine and we can sell them for money. After selling them for money, we can eat delicious food!”
Lian Qiao was stunned, and many, many thoughts flashed in his mind.
An indescribable strange emotion came to mind. Lian Qiao felt that he needed time to gather his thoughts, so he said goodbye to the little girl and went back to the room.
For the second half of the day, he stayed by RenDong’s cradle, not daring to fall asleep. Fortunately, the night was peaceful, RenDong no longer had a fever and his breathing was even and steady. It seemed that he had passed this difficulty.
The next day, the sky gradually brightened.
Lian Qiao was leaning against the side of the bed in a daze, when a line of words suddenly flashed before his eyes.
“1993.”
He was taken aback, and quickly rubbed his dry eyes to confirm that it was not a hallucination. A line of barrage really appeared in front of him out of thin air.
Sure enough… a day is a year!
He hastily stood up. Feeling dizzy for a while, he managed to stand still and quickly picked up RenDong from the cradle.
Little RenDong was still sleeping and the temperature on his forehead was normal. Compared with last night, he has obviously grown up a bit, his face is no longer wrinkled and shriveled, but has turned into a cute little baby.
The little purple sweet potato instantly turned into a little angel!
Lian Qiao was extremely excited, holding the little RenDong and looking left and right, loving it.
RenDong was awakened by his shaking and woke up with his lips pouted. Seeing that his face was full of excitement, little RenDong’s big eyes flashed with doubts.
“You’ve grown up!” Lian Qiao was full of joy, wishing he could throw RenDong into the sky, “You’re one year old!”
“Ah…” Little RenDong opened his mouth but still could only utter a single syllable.
Although RenDong still can’t speak, the sharp-eyed Lian Qiao has already noticed that there are a few small bumps bulging on the tender red gums of the little RenDong. One of them has been pierced by a deciduous tooth, revealing a small white tip.
He’s teething!
Lian Qiao was so excited that he held the little RenDong and spun 360 degrees on the spot. Little RenDong was shaken dizzy by him and babbled in a dissatisfied manner. His fleshy little hand was scratching in the air so Lian Qiao held the little hand and found that RenDong’s five fingers could be fully opened. No matter how hard it was to suppress the joy, he was so happy that he let out an “Aw”.
Little RenDong: “…” Calm down, can you stop throwing me around. I’m afraid I’m going to get a concussion.
After Lian Qiao finished being high, someone knocked on the door and called him to eat. When he went downstairs, he found that everyone was already sitting at the dining table waiting for him.
The principal was still busy in the kitchen, preparing porridge and snacks for everyone. All the people here seemed to think that it was only natural for the principal to be busy on their behalf and none of them got up to help.
Lian Qiao was grateful to the principal, so he ran into the kitchen and asked, “Is there anything I can do?”
You’re awake.” The wrinkles at the corners of the principal’s eyes also slightly curved when she smiled. The years have left extremely gentle marks on her face. Her kind eyes fell on Little RenDong and she asked, “How is he? Did he have a fever again?”
“No, he’s fine.” Lian Qiao solemnly thanked, “Your medicine is very useful, thank you.”
“I’m just giving it a try, what happens is the child’s fate.” The principal smiled and teased Little RenDong for a while, then went on to prepare food. She didn’t seem surprised that RenDong had grown overnight and Lian Qiao noticed that there seemed to be a little more silver hair at her temples than last night.
It seems that time in this world is passing at a high speed and NPCs will simply go along with it.
Lian Qiao was inexplicably sad in his heart and then felt that this sentiment was ridiculous.
Since little RenDong has grown up, the principal has prepared some extra food for little RenDong. Lian Qiao hugged little RenDong on his lap and took a small spoon to feed him bit by bit. Then he proudly boasted: “Our RenDong is really good, not a picky eater at all!”
RenDong: “…” I just shrank, I’m not a real baby, thank you very much.
Although RenDong wasn’t picky about food, Lian Qiao noticed that his little eyebrows were wrinkled as he ate.
“What’s the matter?” Lian Qiao put down the spoon and patted Little RenDong’s back according to the way the principal taught him, “Choking?”
Little RenDong shook his head. His soft lips pursed slightly and he licked his gums with his tongue. After a while, he opened his mouth and yelled “ah, ah” twice.
“Let me take a look.” Lian Qiao leaned over and saw that there were still a few small bumps on the gums of Little RenDong. Other than that there was no change. He couldn’t help but wonder, “What’s the matter with you? Do you have a toothache?”
Little RenDong nodded, then shook his head again .
Lian Qiao became more and more confused.
Others at the dinner table came over one after another to study what happened to Little RenDong. Soon, a middle-aged woman said: “It is estimated that the deciduous teeth cannot grow and the gums hurt.”
At this moment the principal came out of the kitchen. She is the most experienced person here with children. After she saw RenDong, she also affirmed what the middle-aged woman said.
“Then what to do?” Lian Qiao immediately became nervous, “Will it cause inflammation?”
He had read anatomy books and knew that the nerves of the teeth are connected to the brain. If there is a problem with the teeth, the infection might spread to the brain. That would be dangerous.
The principal said: “As long as the deciduous teeth can break out smoothly, it doesn’t matter. Let’s take a look. If it doesn’t work, we can only cut the gums.”
Cut the gums?! It hurts to even hear it!
Lian Qiao subconsciously held the little RenDong in his arms: “No, no, let’s take another look.”
Was there any way to ease the baby’s teeth?